Saturday, May 16, 2015

HUZZAH! Shopping Results

My shopping at Huzzah! this year was not spectacular.  I got a book on modern uniforms, a book on French Foreign uniforms from the 1880's up to the present day and the Bolt Action game book - Battleground Europe.  I needed the latter as I wanted the official rules on minefields so I can incorporate them into my modern games.

Here are the books that I purchased:



I also got a bridge for my War of 1812 games from Wargamers' Terrain and some Vallejo paints.  The bridge is pretty cool as it is built up on either end with small abutment pieces.  Should be a nice addition to the terrain collection.

Here is a photo of the bridge:



I will get photos up as soon as I can get the camera operational.  Not as much as usual, but there just didn't seem to be anything that really caught my fancy - no "I have to buy that" moments.  Really pretty scary for the Sammy Sanguine in me!

Huzzah! 2015

Just got home from Huzzah!  I went up for Friday night and the day today. It was a really enjoyable time to get out of town and spend time with friends doing the hobby. Played in a couple of games, one last night and another this morning. There was a definite theme - Paratroopers!!

The game last night was a very large Bolt Action game. I got to play some units of 82nd Airborne troops involved in an attack on a German bridge.  Today I got to play in a "British Wars" skirmish game of Pegasus Bridge. I commanded a couple of Sappers helping Den Brotheridge and MAJ Howard take the key bridge just before the invasion force hit the beaches.

I really enjoyed both games. They were very different, but they had some interesting tactical situations and the rules gave a completely different feel for airborne operations. Overall this was one of the better convention gaming experiences I have had in quite awhile.

Here are some photos:

The Bridge from the Cafe end of the bridge.

Another pre-battle photo from behind the Cafe.

 Here are some photos of the first battle that I participated in on Friday evening.  We were the 82nd Airborne Division attacking a train bridge so reinforcements and materials couldn't reach the Germans fighting against the beaches:

A destroyed Sdkfz-222 Armored Car.  The last thing the crew of this vehicle saw was the 90mm gun of an American Pershing Tank!

Another charge set on a bridge section supported by a Chaffee Light Tank.

My Sappers destroying the first section of the railroad bridge.  I had suffered four out of six in the section as casualties, but the remaining two troops hung in against serious German efforts to kill them (HMG, AT Gun firing HE, Infantry fire, etc.) until they had the charge set-off.


Results of a German artillery strike - Three pins on a HMG and ATG.  A destroyed Stug III.  And a killed Major commander. Thank you to the Forward Observer who was holding his map upside down when he sent his call for fire!  Couldn't have done it without him!

P-47 on a strafing run.  The results were a destroyed '88' and several dead infantrymen.
One last photo:


The guy kneeling in  the center of the photo is one of my sappers from the Pegasus Bridge game checking for demolition charges and fuze wires.  The British successfully prevented the Germans from blowing-up the bridge.


 Both games were excellent.  The whole convention was a great time!